The Significance of Adult Hematuria: 1,000 Hematuria Evaluations Including a Risk-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

AbstractBetween March 1976 and June 1985, 1,000 consecutive adults with asymptomatic gross or microscopic hematuria in the absence of proteinuria were evaluated urologically. Lesions that could account for the hematuria were detected in 88.3 per cent of the patients. Life-threatening lesions were diagnosed in 9.1 per cent of the patients, while lesions requiring at least observation were present in 22.8 per cent.The incidence of life-threatening lesions increased with age, with a sharp increase after age 50 years. Life-threatening lesions were more common in men (13.6 per cent) than in women (4.9 per cent). In general, as the degree of hematuria increased so did the yield of life-threatening lesions; however, there was no “safe” lower limit of hematuria. Of the patients with life-threatening lesions 18.6 per cent had at least 1 urinalysis with less than 3 red blood cells per high power field within 6 months of the diagnosis.The direct medical cost of a hematuria evaluation was $777. The difference in dire...